With familiars you can just open the familar window in game and see all the familiars and what season they belong to but doesn't seem like you can do that with mercs. The Wiki also isn't helpful at all as it doesn't list them by seasons either. I've heard the later the season, the better the merc or the batallion buff. So how do you sort mercs by season? Also, how do you even see what batallion they belong to before you get them? I would like to farm for some specific ones and don't want to just waste time and money trying to get one that isn't going to be useful for me. Especially since you can only unlock the buff with real money via the "Hire anywhere" feature. I couldn't find mercs sorted by batallion on the Wiki so it's a bit maddening for us new players trying to figure out what mercs to go after. There's got to be a way...
There is no way to tell, you just have to cast the merc and check the buff. When it comes to mercs, the window in the character screen has massive short comings. They should be sorted by first which battalion buff they have, and second by their quality, and lastly they should clearly state which class the merc is in the description. Why this has to be pointed out I am not sure, but the fact it wasn't already done means it does. Quick edit, and continuing on about the merc window, it should also show which merc is currently being leveled and how much time is left.
If you looking at mercenaries on the broker you can see what buff they are by mousing over them. The wiki page has most of the mercenaries listed. You can basically go by xpac. Latest xpac has best buff. If you have a token in your inventory just examine it to get what buff it has. Pesronally I only have found one that was not a Visions of Vetrovia buff. Aroq Flamenock (Ranger/ Antiquitas buff)
You can get this on the broker for 1c to get you started. Its Legendary VoV buff or the Treasured if you want a healer.
This is the most complicated system in the game. I hate it so much. Another question, it seems most the tokens are from Overseer quests, is that correct? I can't seem to find tokens anywhere. Also, How do you know the latest season? It seems to be "Antiquitas" just by reading the forums, but that's just a guess. Does VoV have more then 1 season? I am so confused. This guessing stuff is not fun!!
Another question. I just saw the Marketplace has a season 6 crate. I assume this is the latest season? My question is, will my other VoV mercs contribute to the Season 6 buff? I have the Celestial Merc from Pre-ordering the VoV expansion (Jollinor Firefall) and he is level 20. So if I "pay-to-win" and level all these mercs up (from the season 6 crate). Will I have the latest buff and should I still use Jollinor Firefall?
vov mercs do not contribute to the Renewal of Ro buff at all. you will not have the latest buff [antiquas] Jollinor has nothing to do with VoV nor is he a pre order merc. you get him from the premium RoR package [$140] i wouldnt use him,he's terribad
With each new Mercenary Season, the Battalion Buff from the previous Season becomes -potentially- obsolete. With Empires of Antiquity came Season 6 (Antiquitas Battalion Buff) Mercs. These are automatically more desired because of their Battalion Buff being superior to Visions of Vetrovia Battalion Buff / Season 5 Mercs; which was superior to Dwarven Battalion Buff / Season 4, et al. Only the Mercenaries from within a Particular Season will contribute to that Season's Battalion Buff strength. So a level 20 Visions of Vetrovia Battalion Buff / Season 5 Merc won't contribute anything at all towards the current Antiquitas Battalion Buff. We just chase the Battalion Buff. Higher Tier Mercs within a Season will impart stronger Battalion Buff: Ie A Celestial + Antiquitas Merc will offer more Battalion Buff strength than a Treasured, Legendary, or Fabled Merc from the same season. Then to make it more complicated ... within a Season's Mercs there are 4 types. 1. Tank / Shield 2. Caster Support / Mandolin 3. Healer / Marijuana Dispensary Symbol 4. Scout Support / Bow n Arrow When you level your Mercs individually, at 5, 10, 15 and 20 ... they'll get stronger (your Battalion Buff gets stronger) But ... within a Season's Merc offering, "Antiquitas" for example ... if you level up each Type (Tank / Healer / Support / Support) to at least level 5 each ... then your Battalion Buff get's even stronger. And stronger again when you've got each Type levelled up to 10, 15 and 20 So for max max max as of today ... You'd need: 1. All Four Types to be of Antiquitas Battalion Buff Season 2. All Four Types of Mercs to be Celestial 3. All Four Types of Mercs to be levelled to 20 All of those Mercs we've levelled during this current season, will be obsolete and the cycle starts anew with the latest and greatest Battalion Buff ... What it means practically: When an Expansion comes out, it'll debut in the middle of a Merc / Battalion Buff Season that is already in progress. Then about halfway through that Expansion's approx. 2 year life cycle, a new Merc / Battalion Buff Season comes out. I.e.: Renewal of Ro came out with Mercs that used the Visions of Vetrovia Battalion Buff Season. Then about halfway through RoR's approx. 2 year life cycle, the Antiquitas Battalion Buff Season is released. Part of the confusion is the Dev's called the Visions of Vetrovia Battalion Buff -> "Visions of Vetrovia" which was the title of the Expansion itself, leading to correlative confusion. But really, the Current Battalion Buff Season overlaps the next expansion's release. If you're intending to Raid / run Heroics then it's a pure pay to win situation. Pay DBC for crates, and hopefully get Celestial versions. Level up your highest quality merc of each type to 20 each. If you're a more casual player, such as myself ... then it was more advantageous for me to use continue using the Level 20 Celestial Jollinar, even though it's from an earlier Visions of Vetrovia Battalion Buff, until I got the Fabled Zling Featherface from Antiquitas to level 20. Despite being Fabled, his Antiquitas Buff overtook Jollinar's VoV Buff at some point. Then, instead of buying crates from the Marketplace, I'll level up the highest quality Tank / Support / Support Antiquitas Mercs I receive through drops / Named Chests in-game. For me, that's fine. Personally, I don't want to spend oodles of money to try and get a Celestial "Antiquitas" Season 6 Merc, much less purchase crates to hopefully get All 4 Types, and All 4 be Celestial. Maybe if I didn't have the most awesome doggo in the world to spoil with pig's ears I could redirect the funds but, nah.
Sheyn, THANK YOU !!! This is the most helpful post I've ever read. DB makes it so hard to figure this out on your own. Now I have to decide if I will buy all those crates or not. And I have 6 accounts I pay for!! lol. Probably a thousand dollar investment.
